The ninth-grader at Mira Mesa High School has her eyes on a career in fashion, not finance, but she found her immersion in the world of money woes illuminating.

“I'm learning not to get a lot of credit cards,” said Ausha, still bewildered at the number of charge accounts and overdue bills some people had accumulated.

Nationwide, about 35 million people at 3 million job sites were expected to participate in yesterday's event, according to the organizers. That's roughly the same as last year.

George McKecuen, a spokesman for the event's sponsoring foundation, said the economic downturn had an impact this year – both bad and good.

The bad was a drop of about 20 percent in orders for official “Work Day” merchandise: T-shirts, visors, pens, wristbands. Sales help fund the program.

The good? “More and more requests for information from people who have never participated before,” McKecuen said. “Workplaces are looking at it as a way to increase morale. They are cutting back everywhere, and one of the ways they can make their employees feel better is by letting them bring in their kids.”

California Coast Credit Union had 39 children signed up, five more than a year ago, although six bowed out at the last minute because of standardized school testing.

Nancy Maple, assistant vice president of human resources, said more older teens participated – youths who might have been hearing about the tough job market and wanted to get a foot in the door.

The annual “Work Day” was started by the Ms. Foundation 17 years ago to broaden employment horizons for young girls. A Harvard University study had shown that girls start out confident in school but pull back about age 12 and start doubting their abilities – and their futures.

In 2003, after criticism about discrimination from the parents of boys, the day was expanded to both genders, ages 8 to 18, and the focus shifted from job opportunities to balancing work and family.

Now it has become such a fixture – eight of 10 people in one recent poll could identify the day and its purpose – that it's lampooned in pop culture (“The Office” TV show) and imitated (“Take Your Dog to Work Day,” “Take a Model Train to Work Day”).

But it has never taken place under such cloudy employment skies. The U.S. economy shed 2.6 million jobs in 2008, the largest annual decline since World War II. A Gallup survey last month found that 9 percent of Americans believe this is a good time to find a quality job.

McKecuen said some employers participating in “Work Day” this year planned to talk about the elephant in the room.

“The way they're phrasing it is that this is the reality of work,” he said. “Sometimes there are cutbacks. Sometimes people lose their jobs.”

That wasn't part of the theme at California Coast.

“I'm hoping she's able to see what working in an office-type environment is like, and if it's something she wants to pursue, great,” said Paul Collins, whose daughter, Sophia, 10, was more dedicated than most – she arrived at work with him at 5 a.m. to get an early start on a computer software upgrade.

Antonio Castaneda opted to spend his 13th birthday not at school, but with his mom, Elba Harless, a loan processor. His happy assignment: paper shredding.